Letters
It Floats Your Boat Reader Chet Moen expresses interest in using an outboard powerhead for Experimental aircraft. Back in the late 1960s, when RotorWay...
Build Your Skills: Fabric
The fabric has been applied to the airplane structure, its been tightened properly, and now its time to apply the first chemical coat to seal it. Ron Alexander takes you through the process and also introduces the various ways of attaching the fabric.
All About Avionics: Panel Labels
Avionics wiz Stein Bruch discusses the pros and cons of the most popular ways of labeling your panel including placards, decals, rub-on labels, silkscreens and laser etching.
To Launch a Light Sport
In the third part of this series on building a Jabiru J250 Light Sport airplane, author Bob Fritz installs the elevator, trim and aileron cables, paints some of the interior, installs the master break cylinder, and moves on to the rudder pedals and flaps.
DIY Wind Indicator
Chuck Deiterichs description of a do-it-yourself wind indicator project includes tips, drawings, a parts listing, in-progress photos and a look at the finished product. His experimentation with the highly visible design takes the guesswork out of doing it right.
Unusual Attitude
Oshkosh AirVenture gave Ed Wischmeyer the opportunity to look around at the newest ideas in aviation and to think about the larger implications of what he was seeing. He speculates about what works, what doesn't and how manufacturers and consumers alike could make the world of flying a better place.
The Home Machinist
If your hacksaw has been relegated to the bottom of your toolbox, chances are its because you don't know how to use it properly. Author Bob Fritz offers a primer on the subject that may make you think more highly of this underused tool. A discussion of cam construction and keyless chucks rounds out this installment.
Aero ‘lectrics
Impressed by the quality of the cheap headsets he encountered on a recent commercial airliner flight, Jim Weir dissected the airline unit and has come up with a way to replicate it in your own shop.
Wind Tunnel
Yaw rarely occurs without rolling, and roll rarely occurs without yawing. This month Barnaby Wainfan discusses coupled motion, including adverse yaw, the spiral mode and Dutch roll.
![Last Bits Careful planning and determination will get you to your goal of building and flying your own airplane. [Credit: AdobeStock]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Pulsar-Sunset.jpg?w=534&h=462&crop=1)
![Winging It [Credit: AdobeStock]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/AdobeStock_262642207_AGCuesta.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1)
![Think Like a Builder Lowell Farrand spent years serving as an FAA DAR and is in the EAA Hall of Fame. He offers sound advise to builders. [Credit: Bill Wilson]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/unnamed-4.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1)
![2026 Engine Buyer’s Guide The 160 hp turbocharged Rotax 916iS is a four-stroke piston engine with redundant electronic fuel injection and ignition. [Credit: BPR Rotax]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/PIC_916-iS_iSc-2.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1)
![Manual Starting Methods The alternative to bending down as the propeller is pulled through the compression stroke is to keep the back straight and bend the knees slightly, stepping away in a crouch. [Credit: LeRoy Cook]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/IMG_1519-scaled.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1)





